(The following article is based on reports obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.)

A group obsessed with creating a Caliphate based on Muslim religious law -- Sharia Law -- in the United States and other nations is holding their first US conference today in Chicago.

According to Diane Macedo, news writer for FoxNews.com, the group -- Hizb ut-Tahrir -- is a global Sunni network with reported ties to confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed of Al Qaeda and Iraq's onetime terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It has operated discreetly in the U.S. for decades, wrote Macedo.

Today's conference is titled, "The Fall of Capitalism and the Rise of Islam," and it's being held at the Hilton Hotel in a suburb of Chicago. The shocking part of this story is that the majority of US lawmakers are silent about this gathering of avowed enemies of the US Constitution and American values, yet they are voicing their outrage over a CIA proposal to "terminate" terrorist leaders overseas.

The Obama Administration and most of the news media are remaining silent regarding this latest development and the US Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder is busy investigating US intelligence officers and strategists.
When Leon Panetta, the Director of Central Intelligence, revealed to the House Intelligence Committee that former Vice President Dick Cheney had directed the agency not to inform Congress about the plan to train teams to kill Al Qaeda leaders abroad, Democrats jumped at the chance to display their outrage.
Nevermind the fact that the House of Representatives and the Senate have more leaks than the Somali "navy," and so it's understandable for Cheney and the CIA to distrust US lawmakers with secret and critical information, these lawmakers should be attempting to strengthen US anti-terrorism capabilities rather than indulging in their cheap, anti-American dramatics.
US government and other security and terrorism experts have reported that Islamic extremism is on the rise worldwide and that the spread of Islamic extremism is the preeminent threat facing the United States. In addition, various sources allege that Saudi Arabia is one source that has supported and funded the spread of Islamic extremism globally.

The intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the US Agency for International Development are implementing various efforts to identify, monitor, and counter the support and funding of the global propagation of Islamic extremism. The intelligence agencies and DOD are carrying out identification and monitoring efforts, primarily in counterintelligence and force protection.

According to reports, the State Department and USAID are carrying out efforts to counter the global propagation of Islamic extremism, with State's efforts focused primarily on traditional diplomacy, counterterrorism, and public diplomacy and USAID's efforts focused on development programs to diminish underlying conditions of extremism.

The General Accountability Office routinely prepare classified reports to be subsequently released with a more complete description of US efforts to address the global spread of Islamic extremism. A number of sources have reported that Saudi private entities and individuals, as well as sources from other countries, are allegedly financing or supporting Islamic extremism.

For example, a Treasury official testified before Congress that Saudi Arabia-based and -funded organizations remain a key source for the promotion of ideologies used by terrorists and violent extremists around the world to justify their agenda. However, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, the Commission found no persuasive evidence that the Saudi government knowingly supported al Qaeda.

The government agencies also told GAO staff that Islamic extremism is being propagated by sources in countries other than Saudi Arabia, such as Iran, Kuwait, and Syria. The agencies are still examining Saudi Arabia's relationship, and that of other sources in other countries, to Islamic extremism.

The Saudi government has announced and, in some cases, undertaken some reform efforts to address Islamic extremism. For example, the government is undertaking educational and religious reforms, including revising textbooks and conducting a 3-year enlightenment program, to purge extremism and intolerance from religious education.
However, US agencies do not know the extent of the Saudi government's efforts to limit the activities of Saudi sources that have allegedly propagated Islamic extremism outside of Saudi Arabia.

Sources: General Accounting Office, US Department of State, US Department of Defense, National Security Institute, National Association of Chiefs of Police Terrorism Committee